Raw & Ugly
by serenidad
Summary: War makes one come apart at the seams.


"Captains Log, Stardate 4833.7.

The Enterprise is currently docked to McKinley station close to Earth. Although we have won the last battle with the Romulans, we suffered heavy losses to the crew and severe damage to the ship. As it was the sixth battle this month and the Federation still has not gained any tactical advantage from our victory, I feel reminded of the trench warfare in Earth's First World War over 350 years ago. The war which Admiral Pressman started violating the Treaty of Algeron seems to have reached a dead point."

Picard slightly touched the display at the edge of his desk and ended the transmission. He sighed at the sight of his broken fishbowl, whose inhabitant was now circling in an improvised auqaurium next to the sofa. He could barely see the lion fish's features through the dust which covered all of his quarters. On his own orders his Ready Room would be the last part of the ship to undergo full repair and cleaning. As the Enterprise could not be out in space within the next 48 hours, the Captain considered this part of the ship as the least urgent to be restored.

_48 hours_, he thought, _before we can be sent back to our meaningless, unnecessary, avoidable war with the Romulans. And there's no doubt the we _will_ be._

The door bell chirped.

"Come."

The doors opened and Data entered, ignoring the poor environmental conditions as usually. He held a PADD to his side.

"What is it, Number One?"

"We received a transmission from Starfleet, Captain."

Picard smiled. He was touched that Data still displayed this kind of personal favor to him. "And you came the long way down from engineering just to tell me this?", he asked slightly ironically. He knew from former occasions that Data did not mind.

"It contains highly classified information, Captain", he answered calmly and Picard felt wide awake suddenly. "I had orders to hand the transmission to you personally."

"Thank you, Data", Picard said as he took the PADD from Data. "I see Mr Davon has been able to restore your outer appearance."

During the battle Data had earned himself a special note of Honor by Picard for saving a part of the crew's life. He had led an evacuation mission of the saucer section. In the middle of the progress suddenly a warbird had decloaked and started firing. Before shields were up properly, a torpedo hit Ten Forward, blowing up most of the bar. Only remains of the bar itself and one door were left. Whereas the automatically activated force field sealed off the corridor to space, the other door had suffered sustainable damage. In an act of selflessness Data threw himself between space and the ship, protected crew members passing by from being sucked out into endless vacuum and restored the force field manually. Only damage was done to him, as a second torpedo missed the saucer section by inches. Still the power of it smashed half his head.

"Yes, Sir. I am very grateful that he and Dr. Crusher were able to restore my former appearance completely."

Picard frowned. He decided to mention what he had noticed at Data's entrance, but decided to ignore as he would have done with any human officer. "Don't tell me that scar was you own choice?"

"Indeed, Captain", the Android confirmed his conclusion. He took a step towards Picard, so the flickering light from the ceiling outlined a sharp, vertical shadow stretching from his left eyebrow to his cheek. "Considering the degree of damage I suffered during the attack, it seemed appropriate for me to harbor a lasting sign of my recovery from it. If I were human, I surely would have earned myself a similar lasting damage to my structural integrity."

"If you were human, you'd be dead", Picard stated dryly. "Yet I understand your motives, Commander." He paused.

"Just let me assure you that you voluntarily added a distinctiveness to your outer appearance which most humans would gratefully have abandoned."

The Android well imitated a hesitation. "Do you wish me to remove it, Captain?"

"No, Data, you're free to design your face however you want. On the other hand, I guess Mr Davon still rotates in engineering to get the ship back together. We're in a tight schedule. Probably he would not find it amusing to re-design your face once more."

"I agree with you, Sir."

"Is there anything else, Commander?"

"No, Sir."

"Dismissed."

The Android nodded and left.

Picard turned to the PADD and attentively listened to the transmission. Yet until he had listened to Admiral Fredrikson's voice for a minute, the icy, biting feeling in his stomach would not leave him. Had so many crew members been permanently harmed by now that Data already considered a damaged face as "normal"?


End file.
